Air rinse



July 21, 1959 H. v|: MOMILLAN 2,

AIR axusa Filed March 27, 1958 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 'INVENTOR. HUGH o. MCMILLAN July 21, 1959 H. D. MOMILLAN 2,896,061

AIR RINSE Filed March 2'7, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

HUGH D. MCMILLAN United States Patent AIR RINSE Hugh D. McMillan, Granite City, 11].; Alice A. McMillan, executrix of said Hugh D. McMillan, deceased Application March 27, 1958, Serial No. 724,312 3 Claims. (Cl. 219-39) This invention relates to ventilating equipment and more particularly to a combination air exhaust and air circulating assembly.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a ventilating system for use in homes, oflices, and industrial plants that can readily effect proper ventilation thereof without disturbing the balance of heating and air conditioning units operating therewithin.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an air flow control unit for selectively withdrawing foul air from the interior of an enclosure and supplying fresh air thereto which can readily be installed in existing building construction or incorporated in new units.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a ventilating system of the above type that has self contained heating means for warming cool air brought into the building from the outside so as not to adversely affect existing temperature conditions within the structure during use.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a ventilating system bearing the above objects in mind which is of simple construction, has a minimum number of parts, is inexpensive to manufacture and efficient in operation.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away, of an air flow control unit forming a part of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of a duct forming another part of the present invention;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the duct shown in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of an assembled duct and air flow unit in assembled relationship, in operative use;

Figure 5 is a front plan view of a valve member forming another part of the present invention;

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the valve shown in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of ventilating apparatus made in accordance with the present invention within a building structure; and

Figure 8 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away, of an adapter forming another part of the present invention.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, and more particularly to Figure 1 thereof, an air flow control unit 10 forming a part of the present invention is shown to include a housing 12 having a threaded coupling 13 at one end and a plurality of fixed louvres 14 at the opposite end. A gasket 15 supporting a plurality of weather proof shutters 16 is disposed immediately behind the coupling 13 and in front of a motor 19 having a drive shaft upon which a set of fan blades 18 are secured. This motor 19 is concentrically supported within the housing 12 upon a rigid bracket 20.

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A screen of wire mesh 22 is disposed in front of the blades 18, with a fibre glass filter 23 disposed directly in front thereof. A plurality of electrical resistance elements 25 are strung across the opening between the louvres 14 and the filter 23, whereupon energization thereof by means of electricity is supplied thereto by the cable 27, air being drawn into the housing 12 by reverse operation of the reversible motor 19 will be automatically heated before it is delivered into the interior of the building structure.

Referring now to Figure 2 of the drawing, a duct 30 of substantially T-shape is provided for accommodating the flow of air between the interior of the building structure and the air flow control unit 10. One side of this duct is provided with a coupling 33 for connection to an air vent pipe 31, as is shown in Figure 4, while another end thereof is provided with a similar coupling 35 for connection to a sewer gas exhaust pipe 34. The intermediate leg of the T-shaped duct is provided with a threaded coupling 32 for connection to the threaded coupling 13 of the air control unit 10. A flap valve 36, 36a is rotatably supported adjacent to each of the couplings 33, 35 leading to the air vent and sewer gas vent pipes. Each such flap valve includes a circular plate 37, 37a that is completely encircled by a resilient gasket 38, 38a and supported for rotation between a closed position in which it lies normal to the path of flow of air passing through the duct and an open position parallel to such path of air flow upon pivot shafts 40, 40a.

As is more clearly shown in Figures 3 and 4 of the drawing, a link 42, 42a is secured to an outwardly extending end of each such shaft 40, 40a immediately adjacent to rotatable bearings 41, 41a secured to the exterior of the T-shaped duct. A control rod 44, 44a is connected to the opposite end of each of the links 42, 42a, whereupon longitudinal movement of such control rods is operative to effect rotation of the flap valves to either of the aforementioned positions. These control rods are connected together at the free ends by means of a cross bar 43 so as to enable simultaneous operation thereof between the respective open and closed valve positions.

A reducer coupling 45, as shown in Figure 8, is also provided to facilitate the connection of the various duct sections and other pipes, such as to the threaded coupling 13 of the air control unit 10. This reducer is provided with internal threads 46 which further facilitates the assembly of the related parts.

Referring now to Figure 7 of the drawing, a sample plan of an installation of the presently described air flow control unit and associated ducts is shown within a small living unit 50. Ducts 51a, 12, c disposed in each of the bed, bath and kitchen rooms 52, 53, 54, respectively are effective to provide communication between the interior of such rooms and the exterior of the building unit through the air flow control unit 10 which may be centrally located. In actual use, air can be exhausted from any one or all of these rooms merely by running the motor 19 in the air flow control unit in a forward direction so that the fan blades 18 are operative to draw the air outwardly through the T-duct from the rooms and to exhaust such air into the atmosphere outside of the building unit. In the event that it is desired to bring fresh air into certain rooms, it is only necessary to reverse the direction of rotation of the motor 19, whereupon air will be efficiently drawn into the cooling unit and the respective rooms from the outside.

Since this unit can be readily incorporated within the duct work of existing units, such as upon the vent pipes normally associated with the sewer gas exhaust vents in existing homes, the system readily lends itself for use in existing building structures, as well as in new construction units.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope of the present inven tion as defined by the appended claims.

. What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A ventilation system comprising, in combination, a duct having means at one end for connection to an air vent, means at the opposite end of said duct for connection to a sewer vent, a common passageway intermediate said one end of said opposite end of said duct, air flow control apparatus in communication with said common passageway, and valve means :within said duct selectively blocking communication between said air flow control apparatus and each of said one and opposite ends of said duct, said duct comprising a T-shaped tubular section, said air flow control apparatus comprising an enclosure, a coupling at one end of said enclosure connected to said common passageway of said duct, louvers at the opposite end of said enclosure directing a stream of air inwardly and outwardly of said enclosure, blower means inter-mediate said coupling and said louvers, heating means intermediate said blower means and said louvers, and filter means intermediate said blower means and said heating means, said blower means comprising a reversible motor having a drive shaft, a set of fan blades secured to said shaft, said heating means comprising a plurality of electrical resistance elements disposed in the path of air flow between said coupling and said louvers, and a source of electrical energy for energizing said resistance elements.

2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said valve means comprises a flap valve rotatably secured within each of said one and opposite ends of said duct for rotation between a closed position normal to the path of flow therethrough and an to such path of air flow. 7

3. The combination according to claim 2, further comprising linkage selectively controliing rotation of each of said flap valves.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,396,875 Pierce Nov. 15, 1921 1,858,024 Moore May 10, 1932* 2,184,484 Bojner Dec. 26, 1939 2,458,268 Hinds Jan. 4, 1949 2,459,986 Worden Jan. 25, 1949 2,820,880 Huntsinger et al. Jan. 21, 1958 open position parallel 

